Burns arrived one year ago, coming from Washington Reagan National Airport, where he was general manager of the Signature Flight Support FBO.

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Says Burns, "My goal when I came here was to rebuild the foundation that had cracked.This is all part of rebuilding a very deteriorated relationship, creating a partnership."

Fast Facts: Vail Valley Jet Center

Annual Revenues: $12 million Annual Fuel:

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According to Burns, the FBO's involvement with the terminal was primarily administration and maintenance.Airlines, rental car companies, ground transport, and concessionaires had leases with the FBO which in turn has the master leasehold with the airport.The tenants either staffed the terminal positions or subcontracted them out.The airlines, says Burns, continue to provide their own personnel for station management.

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Vail Valley Jet Center president Bryan Burns relates that getting quality employees may be difficult nationwide, but it can be even more so in a resort area.

According to Burns, there are basically two types of recruits in the Vail market: young people who are chilling on their parents' ticket while deciding on a career; and, "free spirit" middle-agers who may be working at a bar or restaurant.Their common bond: a passion for skiing.As a result, the cornerstone of a healthy employee benefits package is the Jet Center's ski pass.The FBO pays for the pass to local ski resorts up front, and employees pay for it via payroll deductions."On top of that," explains Burns, "we throw in an end-of-season bonus.We've got part-time guys who are eligible for $650 if they stay through the middle of April.Full-time employees will get $950."Another incentive program, tied to the overall safety program Burns has implemented, puts $10,000 into a pool.If the FBO gets through the ski season without any major hangar rash, including workmans' compensation claims, the pools is split among the employees at year's end.The FBO also offers to all employees:• health club memberships;

L to R: Bryan Burns, president of Vail Valley Jet Center, congratulates Geno Haggan, founder and president of Haggan Aviation, on their joint venture to establish a mountain maintenance base at Eagle County Regional Airport near Vail.

Haggan Aviation, founded in 1996, employs 18 experienced mechanics who service Lears, Hawkers, Westwind, Citation and Beech jets, so it seemed a natural fit when Bryan Burns, president of Vail Valley Jet Center, decided that providing on-call, unscheduled maintenance availability for his FBO customers made sense.Last fall, he approached Geno Haggan, the company's founder and president, to propose the collaboration.

"Year-round maintenance support has been difficult to justify based on the seasonality of our business," said Burns.

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"It's been great so far," added Burns.

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According to Burns, "It would be a logical next step to promote maintenance if the demand is there."